The present invention relates to devices for cleaning golf clubs and, more particularly, to such a device that may be easily carried while playing the game, conveniently used to clean a club and then easily cleaned itself in a ball cleaning device such as those typically found scattered around a golf course.
During a round of golf, a club face repeatedly comes into contact with the grass and soil on a golf course and naturally the club face becomes dirty, layered with a buildup of grass and/or soil. Therefore, it would be desirable for a golfer to carry a device for cleaning the face of clubs during a round of golf.
An ideal cleaning device would be small enough to be easily carried in a golf bag along with extra balls, tees, etc., and yet be effective to remove debris from the grooves on the face of a club. Such cleaners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 275,780, Des. 292,753 and Des. 280,229.
Naturally, as these golf club cleaners and the like are used, there is a transfer of the debris removed from the face of the club to the cleaning device itself. Thus, it would be helpful if the cleaning device could be cleaned periodically during a round of golf. A convenient way to do this would be to use the golf ball cleaning devices which commonly are found scattered around a golf course. These ball cleaning devices generally take the form of a paddle-like structure with an aperture in it into which a golf ball is placed. The paddle is then inserted into a container lined with bristles and filled with soapy water. The paddle with the ball inserted is moved up and down in the container; the bristles and the soapy water contact the ball and debris is removed therefrom. It would be most convenient if this type of ball cleaning device could be used to clean the golf club cleaner as well.
Prior art cleaning devices may not be able to be cleaned thoroughly in a typical ball cleaning device. For example, the golfer's brush disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 292,753 is too elongated to fit within a typical ball cleaner. Similarly, the cleaner disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 275,780 appears to have a flat bottom face which may cause the cleaning device to assume and stay in a particular position in a typical ball cleaner and therefore, not be thoroughly cleaned.